Sam Franklin
'Sam Franklin', better known to TV viewers as '''Sam the Butcher', was Alice Nelson's boyfriend. He soon became a good friend of the Bradys. He made frequent trips to the Bradys' when delivering meat. Biography In "Sorry, Right Number", Alice had recently started going out with Sam and was making a lot of phone calls to him. This was only contributing to an ongoing problem with the kids wasting Mike's phone bill. Alice later visited Sam in his meat shop and told him about the problem. Sam said that he had a similar problem at his store. He used to have a phone that customers could use, but they were doing the same thing the kids were, and making him spend more monkey on the phone than actual meat. So, he got the idea to install a pay phone. Alice taught Mike this method and he did the same thing in his home. In "The Big Sprain", Sam and Alice had a date at the Meat Cutter's Ball, but after Alice busted her ankle, she had to cancel, allowing Sam to take someone else. Alice feared that whoever he takes as a replacement, will also win his heart. As it turned out, Sam couldn't find anyone else to take, so he went to The Brady House and spent the Saturday night with her there. In "Alice's September Song", Mark Millard, an ex-lover of Alice, comes back into her life and steals her from Sam. It would later be revealed that Mark is a scam artist, who has a history of using women for their money. When Alice finds out, he attempted to escape, but crashed into Sam, who was carrying a cold hard frozen leg of lamb at the time, knocking him out. After this, Alice went back to dating Sam again. Sam mentioned in episode "Big Little Man" to Bobby, who had a complex over his diminutive size, that he had the same problem as a child - he weighed only four pounds when he was born and his father wanted to send him back, and he even flunked out of kindergarten - he was so short that the teacher always marked him absent. In "Dough Re Mi", Sam was mentioned, but not seen. Peter talked to him on the phone and Sam mistook him for Marcia, due to his high pitched voice. Peter later reported to Alice that Sam was calling because he was in the hospital, after fall in a manhole and that he was recovering well. Twice during the series' run, Sam makes upgrades to his store. The first came in early 1972, when, in "Big Little Man," where Greg accidentally becomes locked in the meat freezer and can't get out (because the door has no way to open it from the inside), Sam vows to pony up the cost for the two-way door to prevent an accident from happening again. He also talks about expanding his store in the Season 5 episode "Top Secret." In the Season 5 episode, "The Elopement," Alice and Sam become engaged. The series ended before a script focusing on a wedding for Alice and Sam could be commissioned, but the wedding is considered to have happened sometime between the events of "The Hair-Brained Scheme" and The Brady Girls Get Married. Alice becomes Sam's business partner at that time, using her secretarial and business experience to help Sam manage the store. In 1988, in the TV movie A Very Brady Christmas, Sam and Alice briefly separate after Sam meets a younger woman at a trade convention and the two spend the night together. Alice is distraught and briefly comes to live with the Bradys to sort out her emotions. However, by the end of the movie, Sam is remorseful, realizes he made a grave mistake and asks Alice for her forgiveness, which she does. Appearances *Sorry, Right Number *The Big Sprain *Alice's September Song *Big Little Man *Dough Re Mi (Mentioned) *The Show Must Go On?? *Snow White and the Seven Bradys *The Elopement *Top Secret *A Very Brady Christmas *The Brady Bunch Movie Trivia *The part of Sam The Butcher was played by veteran character actor Allan Melvin, who is also well known for his roles on The Phil Silvers Show where he played the part of Cpl. Steve Henshaw, Sgt. Charlie Hacker on Gomer Pyle, USMC, and as Barney Hefner on All In The Family. Lewis Arquette portrayed Sam briefly in A Very Brady Christmas, wearing a Santa Claus beard. *In "Sorry, Right Number", Sam told Alice about the payphone he installed in his meat shop. In "Big Little Man", the pay phone was seen again, when Bobby used it to call for help. Sam in Pop Culture *He is mentioned by the Beastie Boys in the lyrics to their 1989 song, "Shake Your Rump" ("Like Sam the butcher bringing Alice the meat...") *He is mentioned in the American Dad! episode "Home Wrecker", when Roger dresses himself as Alice and says that Sam is coming over to "give him his uncut salami". Category:Characters Category:Bradypedia